John Henry Lodge (1856-1922)

John Henry Lodge was a weaver who was buried twice.

Biography

He was born on 1 April 1856, the son of weaver Henry Lodge of Thurstonland and his wife Mary (née Hollingworth), and was baptised on 25 December 1860 at All Hallows, Kirkburton.

He married Elizabeth Ann Haigh in 1880 and they lived in the Deadmanstone area of Berry Brow where they had three known children:

  • Mary Ann Lodge (1881-1894)[1]
  • Richard Henry Lodge (1882-1882)[2]
  • Eunice Amelia Lodge (1884-1962)[3]

They also adopted an infant girl, Mary A. Marsden, who was listed residing with them in the 1901 Census and was 3 years old.

Death

By 1918, he was suffering from paralysis and seizures, and was eventually admitted to the Crosland Moor Institution Hospital in 1920 where he died in 1922. An error at the time he was admitted resulted in his surname being entered into the hospital's records as "Taylor" — in fact, he had been living at Fair Lea Lodge, Taylor Hill prior to admission. The hospital wrote to "Mrs. Taylor" at the couple's last known address to inform her of his death, but she returned it unopened as "not known at this address." With no other known next-of-kin, he was buried in a pauper's grave at Lockwood Cemetery.[4]

At a subsequent meeting of the Crosland Moor Workhouse Committee, it was noted for the minutes that Mr. Taylor's burial had been delayed by a day whilst the hospital waited for a coffin to arrive. Fortunately, a committee member had apparently known the deceased and reportedly interjected, "But the man's name is not Taylor ; his name is Lodge."

His widow, Elizabeth Ann Lodge, was then informed of the error and, together with the Huddersfield Board of Guardians, an application was made to the Bishop of Wakefield to have the coffin exhumed and for Lodge to be buried in the family grave at St. Paul, Armitage Bridge.

Although the application was successful, it apparently did not give permission for the coffin to be opened. It was reported that this necessitated Lodge's body to remain in the first coffin, which was then placed inside a second larger coffin for the burial at Armitage Bridge on 15 April 1922.[5]

According to the Yorkshire Post, the Board of Guardian's refunded the cost of the second burial and Mrs. Lodge acquitted the nursing staff of any responsibility for the error.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Born 10 January 1881 and baptised 26 June 1881 at St. Paul, Armitage Bridge. Died 18 December 1894, aged 14, and buried 22 December at St. Paul.
  2. The Huddersfield Chronicle (13/May/1882) recorded that he died 12 hours after being born on 10 May. He was buried the same day at St. Paul, Armitage Bridge.
  3. Born August 1884 and baptised 1 November 1885 at St. Paul, Armitage Bridge. Married Walter Precious in 1907 and they had a daughter named Ruby Precious.
  4. "Buried in the Wrong Name at Huddersfield" in Yorkshire Evening Post (20/May/1922).
  5. Lodge's burial record for St. Paul gives his address as "291a Blackmoorfoot Road", which was the address of Crosland Moor Workhouse.
  6. "Buried Under the Wrong Name" in Yorkshire Post (22/May/1922).